Moutet admits his mistake: "People will say that I am a clown, that's how I feel"

Fernando Murciego | 18 Nov 2025 | 21.24

Corentin Moutet, ashamed after his glaring error in Davis Cup. Source: Getty

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A day full of emotions at the Davis Cup Finals 2025 with France being eliminated by Belgium. The negative protagonist was Corentin Moutet, who lost the first point of the series after a monumental mistake that will haunt him in the coming weeks.

What did Corentin Moutet do? Let's explain it quickly. After winning the first set against Raphael Collignon by 6-2, the second set was about to go to a tiebreak. At 6-5 and 15-15, a simple ball gave the Frenchman some extra time, seconds that led him down the path of fantasy, prompting him to attempt a fancy shot. The Frenchman tried to hit a drop shot through the legs, off the cuff, the kind of shot that goes viral around the world. And he succeeded, but in a negative way. That error led him to lose the game, the set, and then the match. Following Arthur Riderknech's subsequent defeat against Zizou Bergs, France is now eliminated from the Davis Cup Finals 2025.

"I was expecting this question, to be honest, although not as the first one," Moutet confessed as soon as he arrived at the press conference, while the second match was still in progress. "What do you want me to say? Was it the best shot to play at that moment? I'm not sure. Was it the best option for that ball? I don't know either. What can I say at this moment? I have done it many times in my career, people usually say I'm a genius when I do it, but now they will probably call me a clown. That's how I feel right now," he admitted embarrassingly.

"I think it was the stress, the tension of the match, the excitement, that's why I did what I did. It was in a very tight game, I think that's why I played that shot. It's hard to make the decision, even if people might think it's stupid, right now it seems stupid even to me, I don't know what to say. It was an important point, it would have been smarter to finish with a volley, so I can't replay it. If I had to play it again, I would definitely do something else," he said after losing 2-6, 7-5, and 7-5.

Despite wanting to disappear, Corentin summoned some pride to acknowledge that people will seize this moment to attack him. "It's very easy to criticize when things go wrong, just as it is easy to say it's a fantastic shot when it goes well. Right now, I will try not to be too hard on myself, but I am aware of what happened, I also need to try to be honest with myself. In the future, I will try to make much better decisions than today," assessed the current world No. 35.

Moutet, hurt for letting down his country

The Frenchman, who had just completed his best season as a professional, had lost 35 matches so far this season. Surely none hurt as much as the one on Tuesday, with an entire country behind him, and, to make matters worse, taking so much risk on a shot that bears his signature and that, unfortunately for him, ended up triggering an unexpected downfall. In fact, from that game on, France did not win any more sets in the series against the Belgians.

Corentin Moute embarrassed after his serious error in Davis Cup. Source: Getty

"I know I wasn't playing just for myself, there are also my teammates, the whole team, the people working hard for us. Even the entire country, the people supporting us and watching us. Here the responsibility is much greater, it's true," he pointed out bitterly. "I don't have much experience in this competition, but everything has a beginning. You have to be good in your early games, especially when the captain trusts you and chooses you to play a match. Today I leave very disappointed with my performance, I wish I could have done better," concluded the conference.

This news is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, Moutet reconoce su error: “La gente dirá que soy un payaso, así es como me siento”